In About-Face, Massey COO Chris Adkins Will Not Stay After Merger

NPR News has learned that Massey Energy executive Chris Adkins will not be part of the executive team at Alpha Natural Resources following today's merger of the two coal companies.

Adkins was Chief Operating Officer at Massey and Alpha announced last month that Adkins would be jointly responsible for implementing Alpha's "Running Right" safety program after the merger. That announcement drew severe criticism from the independent team investigating the Upper Big Branch mine explosion, as well as two members of Congress and the United Mine Workers of America. Adkins presided over Massey when the company had a corporate safety "culture in which wrongdoing became acceptable, where deviation became the norm," according investigators.

In an interview with NPR, Alpha CEO Kevin Crutchfield said, "Chris [Adkins] will not be joining Alpha. I'm not going to say anything more about it."

Crutchfield declined to say whether Adkins decided not to take the position or whether the job offer was withdrawn.